In July (2000)

Can Daniel follow the sun from Hamburg to the Bosporus by Friday to meet his love?

Director:

Fatih Akin

Writer:

Fatih Akin

Stars:

Moritz Bleibtreu, Christiane Paul, Mehmet Kurtulus

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Moritz Bleibtreu	...	Daniel Bannier
Christiane Paul	...	Juli
Mehmet Kurtulus	...	Isa
Idil Üner	...	Melek
Jochen Nickel	...	Leo
Branka Katic	...	Luna
Birol Ünel	...	Kellner
Sandra Borgmann	...	Marion
Ernest Hausmann	...	Kodjo
Gábor Salinger	...	Marktverkäufer
Cem Akin	...	Türkischer Grenzbeamter
Fatih Akin	...	Rumänischer Grenzbeamter
Nina Lauterbach	...	Kira
Linda Wagener	...	Anette
Hans Daglioglu	...	Ernie

Storyline

Daniel is a young teacher in-spe, who in contrast to everyone else plans to stay in Hamburg for the summer. Juli, a girl at the flea-market, wants to get known to Daniel and manages to sell him a Mayan ring with a sun on it, foretelling him that he will meet a girl with a sun. One day later Daniel is already on his way across Europe. It seems the prophecy came true somehow.

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Plot Keywords:

rowboat | theft | border crossing | hitchhiker | cigarette smoking | 

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Taglines:

Im Herz, im Bauch, im Juli.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United States] Senator Film

Country:

Germany

Language:

German English Turkish Bulgarian Serbo-Croatian Romanian

Release Date:

24 August 2000 (Germany)

Also Known As:

In July

Filming Locations:

Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Argos Filmcilik Turizm,Quality Pictures,Wüste Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Daniel and Juli are traveling through Romania, only photos are shown instead of real film footage. The reason for that is the Romanian government didn't give permission to film in their country, so they had to take photos instead.

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Goofs

When being stopped at the Turkish side of the border Isa and Daniel should have crossed the Bulgarian check point already which should have required the missing Daniel's passport.

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Quotes

Daniel Bannier: What's that?
Juli: [chuckling] The border. The Danube.
Daniel Bannier: What's so funny? It's real funny, huh? Real funny. Terribly funny.
Juli: Calm down.
Daniel Bannier: No! It's all your fault!
Juli: My fault?
Daniel Bannier: Your fault!
Juli: Why is it my fault?
Daniel Bannier: Because all this shit is your fault! If I'd taken the ferry from Bari, I'd be in Instanbul now instead of a pit like this!
Juli: Bari! Without me you'd never get to Bari! You'd still be in Bavaria! Who helped you cross the border? Who stole the car?
[...]

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Connections

References It Happened One Night (1934)

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Soundtracks

Blue Moon Revisited
Written by Margo Timmins, Michael Timmins, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
Performed by Cowboy Junkies

User Reviews

'In July' is a wonderful romantic comedy cum road picture

I saw the very surprising "In July (Im Juli)" at our International Film Festival last fall and was stunned by how good and how funny it was. "German romantic comedy" sounded like an oxymoron, but others who had seen it urged me to give it a try. Wow!

This film was a marvel as a piece of entertainment. It's tight, fast, funny, surprising, and charming. Part romantic comedy and part road picture, the story is full of twists and delights as it takes you on a ride across Europe, switching languages as we go - German, English, Bulgarian, Turkish. The look of the film is great, with dynamic camera work and beautifully framed scenes. The editing and pace are wonderful, and the music choices are ideal. Acting by both stars couldn't be better for the story, as they are charming, touching, and funny. The story itself will keep you guessing and then wrap-up with an end that's both satisfying and refreshing. Who would have thought a German film could have such lightness and playfulness? This is strictly an entertainment film; it's not deep or significant - the usual German film forte. But the film is a whole lot of fun. The audiences here at the film festival loved it and it was a near-miss for audience favorite (right behind another more serious German film), but this is quite an achievement for a film that's just light entertainment.

Hopefully, this film will find greater distribution, and encourage it's filmmakers to make more movies. Right now, I know of no plans for wider distribution of this terrific gem. I hope that changes soon. Distributors?